10 o’clock List: What to Do When the Power Goes Out in your Dorm

It’s a stormy Wednesday night out there, and you’ve decided to treat yo’ self to a quiet evening in the dorm; you’re gonna get a little studying done, brew some chamomile and catch up on some long-neglected Netflix. It’s the perfect plan. You’re just plugging in your computer at 5% charge when suddenly, all the lights go out. Maybe some robins pecked through the wire, mistaking it for a really really really long worm. Maybe a lightning strike took out a power line, or took out a tree branch which took out another tree which fell on the power line. Or maybe someone with a supersonic hairdryer blew up the fuse box again. In any case, the power is out, and you are alone with only your deepest insecurities pressing in on you in the darkness… but don’t panic! Our ancestors had to manage without technology for thousands of years, so surely we can do without overhead lighting for a couple of hours, right? Right??? Don’t just sit there in the dark twiddling your thumbs and bemoaning the injustice of the universe – try out some of these nifty activities to keep the thoughts away!

Take a nap. Seriously, when else are you going to have this pristine quality of pitch darkness without the refrigerator gurgling and belching like a bullfrog with heartburn in the background.

Shadow puppets! Grab a friend and a flashlight and turn those boring brick walls into a magical fairyland with beloved characters such as the bunny rabbit, the eagle, the happy llama, the sad llama, the double llama, the camel, the awkward turtle…

Dance it out. Find someone who still has moderate battery left, download some jams, pull out the contraband glow sticks and have a crazy rave!

Get ~*sp00py.*~ Walk very slowly down the entire length of the hall growling softly and scratching at the doors. No one will know what’s going on and everyone will be disturbed. It’ll be hilarious.

Read a damn book. You know that one novel you bought over winter break, back when you were brimming with confidence? Remember when you thought you were going to have so much more time for leisure reading this semester? Well, we’ve got four weeks left and it’s still sitting on the shelf, isn’t it? There’s no excuse now. Switch on your flashlight and slide gleefully down that radical Reading Rainbow.